RAVENGLASS LINE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Emerald Ricardo is a vivacious widow of grand passions and expensive tastes. But the shipping line that once supported her indulgent lifestyle is now in terminal decline, and one of her sons, Hugh, who runs it, can no longer afford to hide the truth. In fact, her reckless spending has increased dramatically since she fell under the spell of a new lover - the sinister Hungarian chancer Charlie Seker - and Hugh and his brother Jason fear what remains of their inheritance is about to disappear. But Seker's plans are even more dramatic and disturbing than they imagine, and soon they are caught in an extraordinary web of deceit and depravity.